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[ghostofkemuel]

Abyssinian crisis, 1936

Introduction

The struggle for African independence is frequently and rightly credited to men such as Kwame Nkurumah and Jomo Kenyatta whose effect on the anti-colonial and pan-Africanist movements is visible and lasting. A figure often overlooked, hidden under the long shadow cast by its homeland is not even a person or an organisation- it is a well. 

Today, Ethiopia is a little bit like Berlin, with a rich history of war and oppression of minorities, a thriving diplomatic centre and a history of war and oppression by foreigners as vibrant as the one of minorities by the Ethiopians themselves. All three of these things are connected and if you were alive in 1920, you probably would not have seen it coming (although if you were alive and African in 1920, Ethiopia’s future would have been the least of your worries… even if you were Ethiopian!) So how did it happen? As I said before, it all started with a well.

The Body

Throughout its pre-colonial years, Ethiopia stood out as one of the major powers on the African continent. It was a little bit of a metropolis. Ethiopians have at some time in the past called themselves Jews, Egyptians, Orthodox Christians, Muslims and Ethiopians. The people were always diverse and as such spats were the norm. Any metropolis won’t remain a metropolis for long if the people don’t get along and because “society” Ethiopia got rulers. Some of them are characters in the world’s most-read and most-plot holed book, The Bible and others left the Italians butt hurt. The ones that left the Italians butt hurt are the more important ones although I’m sure the devout are Queen of Sheba stans.

The first butt-hurt guy is Menelik II. Menelik was an ambitious man, he defied the Queen of Sheba stans by contesting the royal succession along the lines of The Queen of Sheba and King Solomon and usurped the throne from the would be heir. His efforts were the foundation of the modern nation of Ethiopia and all the diplomacy and such. Here’s how.

Italy wanted to participate in a little event the Primary school textbooks in Africa call the scramble and partition for Africa. Everyone wanted a slice of the “African cake” as Leopold II of Belgium described it and Italy decided to take on the starving and under-developed Kingdom (masquerading as an empire) of Ethiopia. Well they wanted Eritrea but the treaty that they signed with Menelik was doctored to give them more power. A war was brewing. It was a guaranteed win for the Italians… until it wasn’t. The Ethiopians were scholars of order and Menelik organized a decent and well-equipped army to compete with the woefully mismanaged Italian army. He took to the highlands and utilized guerilla warfare which was to gain popularity across the continent in later independence struggles. After both sides bled dry of troops and money, the Ethiopians were able to gain a decisive victory in the battle of Adowa. Menelik had beaten them and Eritrea was his to take. He passed on that prize, didn’t want to rub salt into the wounds of the Italians although that decision would come back to haunt Ethiopia nearly a decade later.

And so the Italians returned to Italy with their tails between their legs. They did come back to Africa but only targetted Libya in the north and Somalia. They also took Eritrea which Menelik seemed dead set on distancing himself from. These lands were as barren as Arrakis and served no purpose for Italy (and I only mention Arrakis because I just saw the trailer for Dune 2, hyped for that shit). They still wanted resources and Libya was still nearly a century away from oil wealth so they came back to Ethiopia in the roaring ‘20s. In Italy, the ‘20s really did roar because of all the rallies and whatnot… “Rallies for what?” I hear you ask, well just some guy exciting the nation with a policy of aggressive expansionism and racial superiority. He’s fairly inconsequential so we’ll just call him Benny or something. Benny really turned up the heat on Ethiopia by placing more troops in Eritrea and Somalia. I know what you’re thinking, “The Italians never learn from their mistakes.” Well, they did because this time they had better weapons, better organisation, better planning (INSERT BETTER PIZZA MEME meme). Also, Menelik was dead. A guy called Selassie had replaced him. Selassie was a bit of an elitist, not an elite like Nkurumah or Kenyatta, elitist. The kind of guy who scoffs when you order Pinot Noir because “How can you be so basic?” The peasants up in the mountains hated him, the Rases (other elitist guys) hated him, and the Italians hated him. You can see where this is going, right?

They kinda ganged up on my boy Selassie and beat the shit out of his well. Yes, finally, the well. There was a well (an oasis actually but depending on where you grew up, they can be the same thing???) at a place called Wal-Wal and the Italians, recognizing its importance to the locals, seized it and a garrison there. Selassie came up and tried to toss them out as Menelik had before him, but the Italians had better weapons, better org and better planning (INSERT BETTER PIZZA MEME AGAIN). When he was beaten, Selassie turned to the international community for help. The League of Nations was frosty and placed weak sanctions on Italy, the US being the US was unbothered about the fate of a minor nation and continued to trade with Italy. The UK and France could have made further Italian aggression impossible by blocking their access to the Suez but zilch here as well. Less than ZIlch actually because the foreign secretaries of the two countries Sir Samuel Hoare (SPELLED HOARE) and Pierre Laval (executed for treason for a different matter) came up with a secret agreement that would see the war end but Italy gain control over large parts of Ethiopia. The public outcry when this was revealed caused the pair to resign but it had already shown the path of appeasement that the World Powers were determined to maintain. It wasn’t Ethiopia’s fault that they were pursuing this misguided policy to secure an Italian alliance against a certain German moustache model. 

The powers failed Ethiopia and Selassie fled to London where the story for Ethiopia and the continent as a whole would change. Members of the African diaspora around the world went to London to welcome the warrior king and offer support against the invading Italians. Men who would go on to become prominent statesmen penned articles in support of Ethiopia and Selassie was exposed to the idea of Pan-Africanism. Most importantly though, the Ethiopians were now Italian subjects. They suffered greatly under the oppressive rule of the Italians and turned to the tradition of their greatest ruler, Menelik, and took to the mountains. They waged fierce warfare against the Italians and painted the foothills with their own blood. The Black Lions (that was the resistance’s name, a decent one too) set the tradition that others would follow to dethrone the rulers that had been imposed on them. Dedan Kimathi and Wahuriu Itote pushed the British settlers out of the Kenyan highlands by adopting the Black Lions' guerilla warfare and Ahmed Ben Bella in Algeria fought out the British using similar strategies. 

The actions of the Ethiopians demystified the invincibility of the colonizers and in the years that followed, uprisings and rebellions spread across the continent. Kimathi and Itote’s MAUMAU in Kenya is a prominent one but the impact was more absolute than one would think. Mandela’s ANC against Apartheid South Africa, the FLN of Algeria and the EPLF’s struggle for Eritrean independence against Ethiopia all were influenced by the Ethiopian struggle. In the proceeding years of Selassie’s administration, this influence made Ethiopia a natural leader for other African states. Selassie was a revered leader and to some a God, he was a cruel administrator but the figurehead that he was during the independence struggle allowed Ethiopia to become a major player in African affairs with the African Union headquarters being set up in Addis Ababa. The country had seen it all, a strong imperial age before colonialism hit Africa, a valiant and ultimately fruitful fight against colonialism, a foray into colonialism themselves with their escapades in Eritrea and a renaissance as an African power with the continent being shaped by Pan-Africanism in the post-colonial age.

Note to self

And so the well or oasis or whatever shaped Africa. Well, Ethiopia did but the oasis is a symbol for Ethiopia, a beacon of what eventually happens when the oppressed decide to fight back. Ethiopia is a symbol of what happens when the oppressed use their voice to inspire others to fight. Ethiopia also shows who really cares about the oppressed: no one really does, the voice of the oppressed is for others in a similar situation. Men like Hoare and Laval pay no mind to these voices because they threaten the balance that allows them to keep the oppressed captive.